by Helium01

Created on: April 25, 2009

How to Get Your Baby to Sleep through the Night

A lot of parents have trouble getting their babies to sleep at night. There are a variety of different sleep problems that infants experience, including trouble going to sleep, trouble staying asleep, and trouble waking through the night.

You may get your baby to sleep all right, but find that he wakes shortly after going to bed. You may then be awake for the next several hours trying to get your baby back to sleep. Or, you may not be able to get your baby to sleep initially at all. The baby may fall asleep in your arms as you nurse or rock him, but as soon as you lay the baby down in the crib he wakes up and starts screaming. Or, you may be desperate for your child to finally sleep through the night.

If your baby is over 9 months old and not able to sleep through the night (which is defined as 8 consecutive hours of sleep per night) then it may be time to attempt a method of sleep training. For all of the above-mentioned sleep problems, the "Ferber" method, developed by Dr. Richard Ferber, can be used to help train your child to soothe herself to sleep. The Ferber method should not be used with babies less than 6 months old, and may be best left until your child has passed the 1-year mark.

How do you "Ferberize" a baby? First, you should rock, feed, and soothe your baby as you normally would prior to bedtime. Make sure that she is comfortable and sleepy. Make sure you've established a good bedtime routine that always takes place about the same time in the evening and always follows roughly the same sequence. Babies do not sleep well without a firmly established bedtime routine.

You should not allow your baby to go to sleep in your arms. That is a mistake of many parents. If you've established that habit, know that your baby is going to cry a lot until she gets used to being put down in the crib awake. You should put her down very drowsy but still awake. Then leave the room.

Your baby will probably cry when you leave, but that's okay. Wait 5 minutes (or whatever preset interval you are comfortable with. If he is still crying, go in and calm him down (preferably without picking him up out of the crib), then leave the room again. Wait 10 minutes (again whatever interval works for you as long as they get progressively longer). If he is still crying, go in and repeat the process. This time wait 15 minutes before you go in again. Do the same thing repeatedly in intervals of 15 minutes until he finally falls asleep.

Practice this routine at bedtime and also when your child wakes up in the middle of the night. It will take some crying, but if you stick to the routine she will be sleeping much better in a few weeks. Remember that this technique is not for children under 6 months of age.

Learn more about this author, Helium01.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.